And here we go with the start of a new chapter! Thanks to all for your patience, and I hope you’re enjoying your summer as much as I have been.

We have been in our new digs for nearly 10 months and only this week have I finally managed to settle in to my new “studio”. I’m not fully moved in yet, but at least I have my own space to work again! Life is good.

It’s not a big plot device or anything (not like THE HAT ), but I guess it’s not terrifically obvious, either, so here’s your answer: it’s a pin for graduates of TerSA Academy. The short story Spring Break was set at the Academy (although I drew that story a long time ago and this symbol is more recent, so don’t go looking for it there!). Many TerSA employees come from the Academy, but not everyone goes that route. Aria didn’t.

The TerSA Academy emblem is just (to quote HardWearJunkie ) window dressing, so it may not have shown up in the comic yet. Although, if you happen to have the print version of Book Three, you’ll see it in Chapter Eight, in Carl’s flashback, p 55. For reasons I can’t recall, it doesn’t show up in the online version, though.

Darn it, I get so annoyed when I make a goof like that. And this is after already having to swap around a bunch of stuff in the next few pages, when I realized I’d got the placement wrong. I swear, you stare at these pages for so long working on them, you’d think you’d catch all the stuff like that before it goes live!

Thanks for pointing it out, at least I’ll get another chance to fix it before it goes to print.

Wait. Does this page mean your summer thingy is over? Does that mean summer is over now? I WAS JUST BEGINNING TO ENJOY IT! *sniff*

The bottom frame is easy. Cut and paste, redraw the background to fit, and DONE! No fuss. No muss. It would just seem weird for the team commander to not sit next to the admiral.

@Fred: If you are referring to the “insignificant object that later turns out to be important” then I would have to disagree. Yes, it has been used in the past, but it is not important to the long form plot. Captain Mierter (Meter?) could have gone without the hat and we would not be put off by her silhouette (or we might have questioned the lack of hat as a missed opportunity). It’s great window dressing, but that’s it.